Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you on the Auditor General's 2012 review of the civil aviation program. With me today are two of my colleagues: Gerard McDonald, assistant deputy minister of safety and security, and Martin Eley, director general of civil aviation.
We take the Auditor General's report very seriously, as we did the 2008 report on the civil aviation safety program. Changing a surveillance program as significant as the civil aviation program is neither a quick nor an easy fix, and we've had to be strategic in how we prioritize our activities.
Following the 2008 report, we initiated measures to strengthen the civil aviation safety program, and we are continuing to build on those actions. Our efforts to strengthen the program led to producing “Improving Canada's Civil Aviation Safety Program: An Action Plan to April 2013”, which positions us to implement the Auditor General's recommendations by the end of 2013, in addition to other priority areas we had identified.
The plan was provided to the Auditor General's Office, and a copy has been provided to committee members. In two weeks, the department will provide the committee with an update on the implementation of the action plan.
Putting the action plan to work has been a departmental priority this year, with focused attention from me and the deputy minister at the most senior levels of the department as well as from the departmental audit committee. I am confident that the progress we have made has strengthened the civil aviation safety program.
Mr. McDonald will now explain the status and the direction of the program.